Improvement in low-water alarms for steam-generators



UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIGE.

STEWART B. PALMER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOW-WATER .ALARMS FOR STEAM-GENERATORS.

Specification form/ing part of Letters Patent No. 82,025, datedSeptember S, 1868.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEWART B. PALMER, ofSyracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State ot' New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Low-Water Alarms for SteamGenerators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, making part ot' this specilication, in which- Fignre l is aperspective view of the completed instrument as applied to asteam-generator; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view, showing the lowerchamber, the whistle, and the means for conducting the steam from thechamber to said whistle.

Similar letters denote corresponding parts in both .igures Thisinvention relates to that class ot' low water alarms in which theexpansion of metallic tubes is made to operate upon the valve of' analarm-whistle, by which means notice of the lowwater level which hasobtained within the boiler is given to the person in attendance 5 and itconsists in the combination of metal tubes closed at their upper orouter ends by being surmounted with an air-chamber, and a chamber towhich the lower or inner ends of such tubes are attached, and throughwhich they are supplied with steam from the'generator, with rods runningfrom the lower chamber to and connecting with the air-chambers on theouter ends of the tubes, and with levers, also connected to the'airchambers, and to a rod leading to the disengaging mechanism ot thewhistle-valve, said rod being included in the combination; and itfurther consists in the arrangement of a whistle and itsvalve-disengaging mechanism, with reference to the chamber from which itreceives steam.

In the annexed drawings, A is a tube or pipe by which the device is, ormay be, connected to the generator, and which extends downward therein,terminating at the lowwater line, so that as the water reaches thatpoint steam will enter the pipe and pass through the chamber B into thetubes 0, causing them to expand sufiiciently to operate upon thevalve-disengaging device, by which means the alarm is sounded.

B is the lower or inner chamber, to which the pipe A and tubes C C areattached. This chamber is triangular in its cross'section, the spacewithin it being of the same configura tion for the purpose ot conducting steam to the tubes G. Y

C C are tubes extending upward or outward from the {chamber B to anydesired extent which may be necessary to give them the requisiteiiexibility, their outer ends being` closed by their being surmounted byairchambers D D, in the form of spheres, or ot' any other suitableshape. These tubes are firmly attached to the chamber B, and the spacewithin them communicates with the steam-space withinsaid chamber, sothat as the water within the generator falls below the mouth of the pipeA, steam will enter said pipe .and pass up to the chamber B, and thenceinto the tubes C C, thus increasing the temperature of said tubes,which, in consequence of their heilig held in position by the rods F F,and of their increased length caused by such increased temperature, willassume the position shown by dotted lilies in Fig. 1. As a consequenceot' the above-described change of position of the tubes, the links a awill have their lower ends carried farther apart, which action willdepress their upper ends, thus carrying down with them the rod H, whichrests upon and opens the whistle-valve.

E is a plate of metal secured to the back side ot' the chamber B, andextending up in an inclined position until its upper end is nearly in aline with the tubes C C, its extreme upper end being slotted so as toreceive and form a guide for the rod H, which bears upon thewhistle-valve. At a suitable distance above the whistle a lever, I, ispivo'ted to the plate E, and projects forward some distance and restsupon the stem of the whistle J. Upon the upper side ot' this lever, andimmediately above the whistle, rests the rod II. The arrangement oi'these parts is such that when, by the increased length of the rods (.lC, consequent upon their expansion, they depress the upper ends of thelevers a a, it carries down the rod H and lever I, which act immediatelyupon and open the whistle-valve.

To provide against the :necessity o' leaving the whistle-valve open, andconsequently, the whistle sounding until the water has been supplied tothe generator in suicient quantity to cover the mouth of the pipe A,provision is made for closing said valve at once by providing an oisetor notchin the upper side of the lever I, so that as the rod H is drivenforward by means of a cord attached to a ring formed upon said rod, it(the rod) is removed from its bearing upon the lever I, and the saidlever and w'histlcvalve are allowed to risc,thus shutting oft` thesteam. F F arethe rods above referred to, which are at their lower vendssecured to ears or projections upon the lower edge of the chamber B,said rods Vcarrying upon their extreme lower ends, and beneath the ears,nuts G G, for the purpose of lengthening or shortening said rods.

J is the whistle, which is secured to the up per side of the chamberB,and is constructed in the form of a tube, having a sliding platearranged upon its front face for adjusting the pressure Within saidwhistle, and for removing any sediment that may collect therein.

K is the pipe through which dry steam may be conducted to the whistlefrom any conven ient place, or, saturated, may be supplied from thechamber in the base B.

a. a are the links which are connected to the 1. The combination of thechamber B, tubes C O, with their surmounting chambers D D, rods E E,links a a, and rod H, arranged `and operating substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. The arrangement of the rod H, lever I, and spring b, with referenceto the whistle J, and its valve.

In. testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

vsrnvv'nar B. PALMER.

Witnesses: Y Y

GEo. H. GILBERT, I. H. HoLooMB.

